Why Do We Age: The Role of Mitochondrial Dysfunction
The older we get, the less well our mitochondria function. The mitochondria are the power plants of our cells. Most of our cells contain hundreds to thousands of mitochondria, producing energy for our cells so they can stay alive and perform their tasks.
How Our Failing Power Plants Contribute to Aging
Mitochondria are the reason why we breathe oxygen and eat every day: oxygen and nutrients (glucose, amino acids, and fats) are converted into energy in the mitochondria (more specifically, these nutrients are converted into heat and ATP, a small molecule that sticks to proteins and changes their shape and function).
Interestingly, mitochondria contain their own DNA. The other DNA in our cells is stored in the cell nucleus. Mitochondria use their own DNA (called mtDNA or mDNA) to build mitochondrial proteins to function properly. Just like bacteria, mitochondria can replicate themselves. For example, if you exercise a lot, your mitochondria will multiply. But to do that, they first have to properly copy their DNA.
The Aging Process
With aging, the mitochondria become more and more damaged. This damage occurs because of various reasons, including:
1. Free Radicals
These are produced as a side-effect of mitochondrial functioning. Free radicals damage the mitochondrial DNA, mitochondrial proteins and mitochondrial membrane, leading to reduced mitochondrial functioning.
2. Mutations
Mutations occur in mitochondrial DNA when mitochondria divide. Every time the mitochondria divide, they have to copy their DNA. This process is not perfect: during the copying process errors (mutations) in the DNA can occur.
3. Epigenetic Changes
Epigenetic dysregulation happens to the mitochondrial DNA. The epigenome determines which mitochondrial genes are active or silent. The older we get, the more this process becomes dysregulated.
In fact, the mitochondrial DNA is much more susceptible to DNA damage because it’s so close to a lot of chemical activity that generates harmful free radicals, and because mitochondrial DNA is not wrapped around protective histones like DNA in the cell nucleus, and because the mitochondria don’t have comparable DNA repair enzymes like the nuclear DNA does.
An additional problem is that damaged mitochondria can keep lingering about in our cells instead of being cleared up by the cells. Normally, cells destroy old, damaged mitochondria in a process called mitophagy. However, some damaged mitochondria can evade their destruction and keep lingering around in the cell. This leads to a build-up of damaged, non-functioning mitochondria, hampering cellular functioning and causing our cells to become “aged”.
Cells that have less well-functioning mitochondria have less energy to perform their tasks properly. The cells are less able to repair, maintain, and multiply themselves, and this accelerates the accumulation of other damage, such as mutations in the DNA and the built up of proteins, given energy from the mitochondria is necessary to keep these processes from happening.
Interestingly, a little bit of mitochondrial damage can be healthy. This is called “mitohormesis”. Hormesis refers to the observation that small amounts of damage can be healthy, because it pushes the cells to better repair and protect themselves. Substances in healthy foods, exercise, and specific drugs like metformin can be healthy for the mitochondria (and increase lifespan) because of mitohormesis.
The problem with aging however is that too much damage starts to accumulate in the mitochondria, leading to cells that function less properly. We call these cells “aged”.
Rejuve Health's Approach to Mitochondrial Dysfunction
ORAL PRESCRIPTIVES:
1. Metformin
2. Rapamycin
3. Methylene Blue
4. Custom Vitamin Recommendations
IV Infusions:
Biologics: Stem Cells/Exosomes
Curcumin
Methylene Blue
Oliphenolia
NAD
Resveratrol
Spermidine
Peptides:
NAD
MOTS-C
Epitalon
GHK-CU
Tesamorelin
SS-31